In recent years, communications systems, such as GPRS systems, have been implemented to provide wireless connectivity between a client (e.g., a laptop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device, etc.) and a server in an external packet data network for supporting mobile users. Generally, GPRS caters to providing access to various types of networks supporting various types of Packet Data Protocols (PDPs) including, for example, Internet Protocol (IP).
End-user devices employed in GPRS systems typically include Terminal Equipment (TE) and a Mobile Terminal (MT). The TE runs applications and the MT interfaces to the TE on one side and a Base Station Subsystem (BSS) of the GPRS system on the radio side. The radio interface between the MT and the BSS typically is referred to as an air-interface.
However, the GPRS specification (e.g., GPRS-97) allows for establishment of only a single PDP context per PDP address (e.g., per IP address). This implies that for typical scenarios where the TE handles a single IP address, a single context and hence one set of Quality of Service (QoS) parameter values can be established between the MT and a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) of the GPRS system. This can be unattractive since various applications running concurrently on the TE (e.g., real-time voice and non-real-time data applications) may require a different set of QoS parameter values for optimal performance.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved communications system and method that overcomes problems with respect to varying QoS requirements between multiple applications.